Tulip species pollination ecology

T O enoster@hotmail.com
Mon, 29 Dec 2014 11:53:23 PST
Thank you, Jane.

Kurt did get in touch with me with the pictures. Fascinating! Its funny how native wildflowers are often "weeds" while those from other countries are the finest treasures! Same can probably be said from any country's point of view.

I do grow a few kinds of tulips. Besides the big hybrid types, I have a small patch of "Lilac Wonder" (bakeri?). They already have 4" of leaf growth, and it seems like they divided into two or three bulbs for each one I planted. Makes me wonder if they will flower?

On moles, I think they only have teeth on the upper jaw. I have a theory that the damage they cause to bulbs is from their claws when they are moving under the surface, severing any shoots under the surface. What looked like green leafy growth of some tulips last year pulled out of the ground with nothing attached last year. Jerk moles...

Message: 3
Date: Sun, 28 Dec 2014 11:14:51 -0800
From: Jane McGary <janemcgary@earthlink.net>
To: Pacific Bulb Society <pbs@lists.ibiblio.org>
Subject: Re: [pbs] Tulip species pollination ecology
Message-ID: <E1Y5JIt-0007Sy-SP@elasmtp-mealy.atl.sa.earthlink.net>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"; format=flowed

Travis asked,
>I am looking for evidence or direct observations of floral visitors 
>or pollinators of species Tulips in their native habitats. There is 
>little empirical evidence of the pollination ecology of wild tulip 
>species. All I could find was a journal paper on beetle pollination 
>mentioning a few species of tulips as fitting the beetle pollination syndrome.

Kurt Vickery, an expert on wild tulips, noticed this question and 
wrote me, sending a photo of beetles pollinating wild tulips. He says 
he has not noticed many insects visiting the wild plants. I haven't 
noticed any on garden species tulips, but they certainly set seed in 
this area (Portland, Oregon).

Travis also mentioned having trouble growing tulips in his southern 
Oregon garden because of burrowing predators. This was a big problem 
for me when I lived in a vole-ridden country place, but now that I 
live in a suburb there are no voles or field mice apparently present, 
and I see well-established colonies of commercial tulips in the 
neighborhood. I don't buy tulip bulbs for fear of introducing 
viruses, but I'm growing many from seed and hope to have some raised 
beds built for them this summer. I'll lay heavy-duty woven 
groundcloth under the beds to prevent moles (which are a problem 
here) from coming into them; the local mole species eats some plant 
material, though mostly worms and insects. You can also protect your 
tulips by planting them in strongly made plastic mesh pots, 
obtainable from water-garden suppliers.

Jane McGary
Portland, Oregon, USA

-Travis Owen
RR, OR



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